Back and Forth we go at the Argos Home Opener

It was legitimately a game of nerves. The Calgary Stampeders jumped out to the 7-0 lead a minute into the game. Honestly, it was a blow to the fans who just suffered a heart-breaking loss merely a week ago to the Edmonton Eskimos. It was not long though that the Toronto Argonauts fought right back to tie the game as Cory Boyd ran it right through the end zone. Fans jumped on their feet, while us all sat silent in the press box; you could see the odd few with the small fist pump. Although the game was nowhere near over, the feeling of that opening game first touchdown was simply heart warming.
A huge turn of events happened late in the first quarter when Calgary quarterback Drew Tate landed awkwardly on his arm after Derrick Summers first sack of the game forcing him out of the game and bringing in second-string quarterback Kevin Glenn. Now I am sure we were all nervous about Tates’ health, but again a silent fist pumped was noticed from up in the box.
Glenn did not leave without a fight, throwing 15 passes for 172 yards but adding in 2 interceptions. His counterpart on the other hand, the man on the good side, Ricky Ray threw a beauty of a game. Ray completed 30 out of his 40 pass attempts for 407 yards. He finally showed his fans, his city, and his team that he was the Ricky Ray we believed in.
From there it seemed to be an All-Argos affair, pushing our lead to as much as 13 points. At this point, most fans, and probably most of the team leaned back ready to comfortably enjoy the rest of the game. I am sure they were caught off guard when Nik Lewis scored a quick touchdown to bring the Stampeders within 8, followed by a 125 FG return by Larry Taylor of Noel Prefontaines’ wide field goal. A two-point conversion after that had tied the game up.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Dontrelle Inman collected his second touchdown of the game off the acrobatic 15-yard catch putting the Boatman up 36-29 with minutes to go but AGAIN the game was nowhere near over. Larry Taylor struck again with a 64-yard return setting Nik Lewis up with his second touchdown of the game with one minute left, tying the game up.
At this point every single person in the Rogers Centre was up on his or her feet. Not a single fan was silent, not a single fan was not biting their nails, but there was not a single fan who was not confident that their team could pull this off.
It started off with a Chandler Williams 34 yard kickoff return. After that, Andre Durie caught a Ricky Ray pass for another 36 yards. After a small run by Cory Boyd, Noel Prefontaine was within 28 yards, perfect field goal range.
Now, at most times we would call this a day and watch as the pigskin flew between the two field goal poles. But today was not any other day. Fans remained biting their nails as Prefontaines’ kicking was sub par so far this season, as he went from making a 42 yard field goad, to missing a 36 yard field goal leading to a 125 yard touchdown. Fan stayed standing, players stayed praying, and Noel Prefontaine stayed calm. Once the ball was passed back to him he approached the ball shooting his leg upwards and stood there. To him that ball moved so slow. To all of the fans, it moved so fast right through the field goal bars. Everyone quickly looked over to make sure the clock was at zero. At that point everyone screamed. Players, fans, people at home, people on the street, everyone. It was a great moment for the city, as a Toronto team full of hope had won its home opener. The Argos were back at fighting strength, and the Hamilton TigerCats were back to their scared ways, immediately sending what they thought to be intimidating tweets to the Argos Admiral account. The perfect end, to the perfect day.